


There Must Be an Angel (Playing with My Heart)

by Ellana17



Series: The Family You Choose [3]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Gen, I feel like Chuck and Dean having a chat about Cas is kind of mandatory by now, Sam is a Good Brother, brochesters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-18
Updated: 2017-04-19
Packaged: 2018-10-20 15:05:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10665150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ellana17/pseuds/Ellana17
Summary: Three conversations Dean had about Cas.





	1. Chuck

**Author's Note:**

> The title is a song by Eurythmics.

When Dean entered the kitchen to get started on breakfast that morning, he was surprised to find Chuck already up – and, Dean was thankful to note, actually dressed this time – mixing ingredients into a large bowl.

“Morning, Dean,” Chuck greeted without taking his eyes off the mixture. “I made coffee.”

“Thanks,” Dean grunted as a made his way to the coffee maker and poured himself a cup. “What are you making?” he asked after taking a gulp.

“Pancakes,” Chuck answered. “Go ahead, take a seat,” he told Dean. “Are you feeling alright?” Chuck asked as Dean groaned and buried his face in the crook of his arm.

“Fine,” he groaned without looking up. “Lucifer’s music been keeping me up all night is all. Your kid is kind of a dick,” he said, slowly lifting his head. “No offense.”

Chuck shrugged good-naturedly. “I understand how hard it is for you,” he stated, suddenly turning serious. “You miss Castiel.”

Dean focused on drinking his coffee to avoid looking at Chuck. Dean could not bear the understanding and gentleness in his eyes. He was half tempted to pretend Chuck was just talking out of his ass and actually had no idea what Dean was thinking but even Dean was not stupid enough to try and hide from God himself.

“That stupid son of a bitch just had to go all righteous on us, didn’t he?” Dean noted dryly once the coffee was gone. “I get why he did it, though, and that was fucking brave of him. He stepped up when me and Sam couldn’t but I just wish he didn’t, you know.”

Chuck nodded. “You should tell him that.”

“Yeah, if Lucifer ever lets him go,” Dean replied curtly.

“He will,” Chuck told him softly. “This will all be over soon.”

“One way or another,” Dean grumbled.

“You know,” Chuck started as Dean turned the empty cup in his hands mournfully. “I have to say I had not foreseen the bond between the two of you. Castiel changed after he met you,” he underlined.

“I’m sorry,” Dean told him honestly. “I know I screwed up but you can’t blame him for my mistakes.”

“You misunderstand me, Dean,” Chuck said with a reassuring smile. “I don’t blame you. Castiel has changed for the better. You showed him free will, and for that I am grateful.”

“Yeah, for all the good it did him,” Dean snorted. “Do you actually have any idea what he’s been through since he met me?” he asked sharply. “He did everything he could to keep Heaven together and to avoid everything going to shit because you weren’t there and what did he got in thanks? Metatron fucking stole his grace, he became human and almost die. He actually did die!” Dean exclaimed. “And where were you, huh?”

“Dean…”

“He’s been looking all over for you, you know that, right?” Chuck remained silent. “He was cast away by the other angels. He lost the only family he ever had.”

“That’s not true,” Chuck said quietly. “He’s got you and Sam.”

“That’s not the same,” Dean grumbled.

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

“We’re not enough,” Dean said at last. “He wouldn’t leave if we were,” he whispered.

None of them uttered a word for a while. “Dean,” Chuck said finally as he started pouring the mixture into the pan. “I’ve been alive longer than you could possibly comprehend and still humans keep surprising me. It’s something I like about you lot,” Chuck informed him with a smile. “You can be both extremely perceptive and completely oblivious at times.”

Dean frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Castiel only wants to do what is right. Even if that leads him into more trouble, his heart is always in the right place. And that means that he’d sacrifice his own happiness to do what is right. I can assure you if it was up to him, he’d probably stay forever.”

Dean snorted. He was about to tell Chuck exactly what he thought about that when he heard footsteps down the hall.

“I smelled pancakes,” Sam said as he entered the kitchen. He froze on the spot when he saw Chuck cooking. Sam glanced at his brother in surprise and Dean shrugged, trying to convey the idea that he should just roll with it.

“Hi, Sam,” Chuck greeted him. “Come on, take a seat.”


	2. Claire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This takes place just before "Your Mother Should Know".

“When was the last time you heard from him?” Dean finally asked. It seemed Claire was determined to learn exactly what had been going on with Cas these last few months.

“Months ago,” Claire told him. “He texted me his usual ‘How are you, Claire?’,” she said, dropping her voice to match Castiel’s tone. “Then he sent a bunch of weird-ass emojis and complained there was none resembling a werewolf. After that he asked me if I watched Orange is the New Black,” she concluded with a look of disbelief. “It’s been months!” she exclaimed.

Dean felt a pang of guilt. He had spent so much time worrying about Cas and getting rid of Lucifer that he had not stopped once to think about what Claire might have thought.

“Why don’t you simply call him?” Dean asked, trying to make sense of things.

Claire glared at him from across the table in the War Room. “I can’t call him! That’s not how it works!” she exclaimed, crossing her arms over her chest.

Dean knew the girl actually meant to say “He’s the one who’s supposed to call _me_!”

“You know what happened to him, don’t you?” she said, studying him closely.

Dean shifted uncomfortably. “You should ask him when you see him,” he told her.

“I hate when you do that.”

“Do what?”

“Keep me out of the loop on purpose.”

Dean pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m looking out for you,” he said, trying to convince her. “Look,” Dean said after a moment. “I’m going to tell you why he hasn’t been in touch much but I don’t want you to freak out, okay?”

“Me? Freak out?” Claire snorted. “Do you worst.”

Dean took a deep breath, trying to figure out how to explain their current situation. “Angels need vessels.” He stopped when he heard Claire snort.

“Yeah, I know that, Dean,” she reminded him.

Dean raised his hand to stop her. “Do you want me to explain or what? We were in a bit of a spot and, huh, Cas accepted to become the vessel of another angel for a while.”

“Is that even possible?” she asked. Dean shrugged. “So that’s why he’d been so distant? He had a roommate? He could have at least spared a minute to call me.”

Dean shook his head. “I guess he was trying to protect you. The other angel… he’s not a good guy, okay, far from it. But at the time Cas thought it was the only way to solve an even bigger issue.”

Claire frowned. “Are you going to start making sense anytime soon or…”

“He said yes to Lucifer, Claire,” Dean told her bluntly.

“Lucifer? Wait, you’re serious? Lucifer actually exists?” she exclaimed. “And Castiel thought it’d be a good idea to let the devil possess him?” she asked in disbelief.

“As I said, we were desperate. We got rid of Lucifer,” he was quick to reassure her. “He’s got a new vessel now and Cas is tracking him.”

“I told you to keep an eye on him! You guys are together, it’s kind of your job to make sure he doesn’t do stupid shit like that!” she reminded him.

Dean froze. “You mean because we hang out together, right?” Dean asked slowly.

“What? No! I mean because you guys are _together_ together.” She stopped when she caught sight of Dean’s pale face and wide eyes. “You are together, right? Right?” Dean shook his head. “But- But I thought…”

“I know what you thought,” Dean stated. “But you’re way off base on this one, trust me. Besides,” he added. “Cas is a big boy, he can take care of himself.”

“Clearly not,” Claire replied. “And you are an idiot.”

“Excuse me?” Dean sputtered.

“You don’t even see it, do you?” she mused. “The looks? The lingering touches?” she listed as Dean rolled his eyes pointedly. “I thought you didn’t tell me about it because you thought I would freak out.”

“Claire…”

“No! I spent nearly two years thinking my dad’s lookalike was bumping uglies with another dude, you at least owe me an explanation.”

“This is a nightmare…”

“Nope, it’s pretty real.”

“Why didn’t you go out with Sam and Alex again?” Dean mumbled.

“Didn’t really feel like going out. Hey, this is your fault for not letting me use the shooting range,” she smirked.

“You’re infuriating.”

“I know,” she answered matter-of-factly. “Come on, cough it up.”

“I don’t know what you want me to say, Claire.”

“Let me spell it out for you, then. You guys clearly have something going on here, so much so that I thought, you know, you actually had something going on. Why is that?” Dean remained silent. “It’s obvious you guys care for each other. And I mean really obvious. I can’t believe I’m the one telling you this. I thought this whole relationship crap was supposed to get easier when you grow up.”

“Believe me, it doesn’t.”

“Yeah, I can see that now.”

Dean cleared his throat. “He’s in your dad’s body,” he felt compelled to remind her.

“Yeah, I know. But now he’s more like a distant relative that kinda looks like my dad. They’re nothing alike and it got easier to tell them apart after a while. Castiel is, you know, one of a kind.”

Dean found himself smiling. “Yeah, he is.”

“And he could definitely do worse, I guess,” she added.

“I’m so glad I have your blessing,” Dean deadpanned.

“Don’t be a dick. Look, I’m not going to pretend that I completely understand what’s going on with you two but you should think about telling him how you feel before it’s too late.”

“Fine. I’ll think about it. Happy?” he snapped.

“Yeah, actually,” Claire acknowledged, sounding surprised. She smirked.

“Yeah, well good for you. Now go read a book or something and leave me alone,” he told her, smiling nonetheless. “Huh, I need a beer,” he mumbled as Claire left the room.


	3. Sam

Dean knew he had to order his thoughts before making a mess of his already fragile relationship with Cas. The angel was one of the most important person in his life - had been for years - and Dean knew he needed to get his shit together before telling him anything.

Dean had decided to open up to Sam at last. Rationally, Dean knew he had nothing to worry about. Sure, they fought a lot but his brother had also been putting up with his bullshit without batting an eyelash for years. Both brothers were sitting down in the kitchen, enjoying a home cooked meal when Dean decided that it was now or never. He took a deep breath.

“There’s something I need to talk to you about but I don’t want you to freak out too much, alright?” Sam looked up from his plate, looking concerned. Dean was tempted to backpedal, but he did not. “It’s just that I- huh, Cas… I’m sort of in love with Cas,” he finally managed to say.

“Dean, I know,” Sam smiled reassuringly.

“What do you mean _you know_?” Dean asked in disbelief.

“I know how you feel about him,” Sam stated.

Dean gaped at him. “I’ve been worried sick about this whole thing and you tell me now you knew about it all along anyway?” Dean exclaimed. “What the hell, Sam? No, seriously, what the hell?”

“Not all along… Okay, maybe I did know all along,” Sam added after a bit. He smiled at Dean’s baffled look. “Remember last year with the qadreen?” he asked and Dean nodded slowly. “For a moment I genuinely thought you were going to tell me you saw Cas back there. But I knew before that,” Sam explained.

“And you didn’t say anything?” Dean asked.

Sam shrugged. “I figured you’d tell me when you were ready.”

Dean ran a hand through his hair. “Shit,” he said under his breath.

“I mean, it wasn’t that hard to figure out, you know, with all the staring and everything.”

“Oh, shut up,” Dean groaned covering his face with his hands and shaking his head in disbelief.

“I love the guy,” Sam went on. “I do, he’s family, but you and him… you always had this…”

Dean lifted his head suddenly and glared. “If you say _profound bond_ I swear…” Sam laughed. “And you don’t think it’s weird?” Dean asked quietly after a bit.

“No, Dean, I don’t think it’s weird,” Sam told him with a grin. Dean raised an eyebrow. “Come on, man. The fact that we hunt monsters for a living is weird. You falling in love with an angel is pretty low key in comparison.”

“And, huh,” Dean started. “It doesn’t bother you?” he asked hesitantly. “The fact that he’s a guy, I mean.”

Sam stopped grinning as soon as he noticed his brother concerned look. “Dean, I know I never said it but it doesn’t matter to me if you’re with a girl or with a guy. You’re my big brother and nothing’s ever going to change that,” he told Dean seriously.

“Wow, don’t you get all mushy on me, dude,” Dean exclaimed, smiling at last.

Sam laughed. “I’m going to hug you now,” he warned Dean.

“Alright,” Dean sighed, pretending to be annoyed about it. “Let’s get this over with,” he said, opening his arms.


End file.
